Hilton-Smith pleased with U19 Championship quality

2 October 2018 – SAFA’s deputy Technical Director, Fran Hilton-Smith is already thinking about strategies on how to get South Africa’s national Under-20 Women’s team (Basetsana), to qualify for the 2020 FIFA Under-20 World Cup.

At the annual SAFA’s Under-19 Women’s Regional League Championship, which kicked off at the Nike Football Training Centre in Pimville (Soweto) on 2 October 2018, Hilton-Smith expressed just how happy she was with the quality of football on display.

She explained how she intends to use this tournament to identify talent for the U-20 side.

Basetsana will participate in the CAF Under-20 Women’s qualifiers early next year and Hilton-Smith reckons that early talent identification and good preparation will play a key role.

“This is a crucial tournament for us and I say this because it will provide our national selectors with an opportunity to scout potential talent to include in our national Under-20 women’s squad,” Hilton-Smith said.

“This tournament also came at a perfect time because our Under-20s will be busy with their 2020 FIFA Under-20 Women’s qualifiers in the coming year, and we want them to be ready for that,” added Smith.